What to do?
In the long term it would be a great idea to look into restructuring the economic model of the industry. The whole industry should cooperate and create common tools. I believe in a model where each company need to take a greater risk and pay a higher cost to build their own brand. I believe in local, regional and national collaborations. I believe in constellations like Classic Norway Hotels, with long term capital and a close relationship with the ones that are close to the customers.
Meinich-Bache wants a new booking platform owned by the travel industry. Perhaps a platform through Visit Norway or something brand new could challenge the big OTAs? This would need substantial investments and cooperation from all the participants, so everyone involved stopped using the OTAs altogether.
Before this happens, we need better booking systems as well as to invest more in marketing, both nationally and locally. In our podcast episode, Meinich-Bache says we need a Travel Minister with the power to coordinate all this. I couldn’t agree more.
In the meantime, let’s do what we can to help our own travel industry, which means a lot to our own identity and Norway’s reputation. Please book directly with the hotel, spend some time on the internet to find their webpages, or call them if their booking system is not up to date. It’s nice to have a little chat with the ones you’re going to stay with.
Have a great Norwegian directly booked holiday!